Interview conducted by Jane Natoli. John C. Taylor enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 while he was a sophomore in college. He was activated in February of 1943, and sent to basic training in Atlantic City, NJ. He was then sent to...

Interview conducted by John Schuller. Floyd W. Smith enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in early 1943, while in his first semester at college. He went to basic training in Miami Beach, Fla. where the barracks were in a large hotel. Smith was...

Interview conducted by Jim Lyko. Frank Ladwig grew up in Fargo, N. Dakota, and attended college at North Dakota University. He then received a scholarship to Harvard Business School. On his return from Harvard, in December of 1940, he received a...

Interview conducted by Michelle Hannon. Constance Sullivan Collins Cain joined the WAVES, a branch of the U.S. Navy, in 1944 at the age of 20. She went to basic training at Hunter College in New York City, where the women underwent the rigors of...

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. Richard Smith enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1966 after a semester of college. He joined for a variety of reasons. Smith had his basic training on Parris Island (SC) which he vividly remembers...

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. Theaker enlisted in the U.S. Army in May of 1964 after finishing two years of college. He enlisted before any sign of war in Vietnam appeared. He attended basic training at Fort Dix (NJ). From there he went to...

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. Richard Smith enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1966 after a semester of college. He joined for a variety of reasons. Smith had his basic training on Parris Island (SC) which he vividly remembers...

Interview conducted by Sarah Lawson. Phillip Davidson joined the U.S. Navy while he was at boarding school in Massachusetts. He was only 16 years old and required his parent’s signature in order to join. He thought of the navy as a “great...

Interview conducted by Jim Lyko. Audrey Lyons grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and began working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II. She graduated high school in 1941 and began attending Brooklyn College in September of that year. In...

Interview conducted by Jim Lyko. Edward R. Kuehn began his military career in the 122nd horse cavalry of the National Guard. When he began college at UCONN, he joined the ROTC. In 1941, after graduation from college, he was ordered to report for...

Interview conducted by Sean Drake. Leo Liberman enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 while he was enrolled in college for engineering. He joined in order to be able to choose the branch of service he would be part of. He was sent to Ft. Leonard...

Interview conducted by Kelly Marino. George Shally enlisted in the United States Army in 1944 while he was in college in Berkeley, CA. He joined because he wanted to fight against the Nazi regime of Germany, and in the army he knew he would be...

Interview conducted by Shawn Ingraham. Frank Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Army just after his graduation from high school in 1942. Pearl Harbor had been bombed during his senior year of high school, and it was very important to him to become a...

Interview conducted by Jeanne Marie Christie. Veronica Bradley was among one of the first women to join the U.S. Marine Corps. She was inspired to join by a poster she saw one day on her lunch break of a woman marine and immediately went down the...

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. John F. Croce enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 while he was a sophomore in college. He went to basic training at Parris Island (S.C.), and then radio school at Camp Lejeune (N.C.). He was then sent to...

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. Edward J. Bartek enlisted in the U.S. Navy, in 1939, at the age of 18 after spending two years in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He joined the navy in order to see the world, but in fact spend the majority...

Interview conducted by Ian Tran. Robert H. Gross enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942, during his junior year of college. He went to basic training in Aberdeen, Md. He joined the Air Corps because of his deep sense of patriotism,...

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. Leon Sarin was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951, but because he was still in college, he was not ordered to report to basic training until 1952. After basic training at Camp Gordon for six weeks, he was...

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. William Phillips joined the U.S. Army in 1963 at the age of 18, with the goal of having a career in the military. He attended basic training at Fort Jackson, SC which lasted for 12 weeks. He then went to Fort...